


Happy New Year!

by norwegianssweethearts



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: F/M, Insecurities, Noora goes to london, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 04:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/norwegianssweethearts/pseuds/norwegianssweethearts
Summary: AU where Noora is not happy in Oslo so she goes to London and meets a cute boy on New Year's Eve.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s New Year’s Eve, she’s been in London for less than 48 hours and didn’t know how to say to her hosts that she would rather stay alone in her room than go to the European School of London’s party.   
So here she is, in her black jumpsuit, alone at a party with strangers. The only person she has met before is Eva, but she is more than tipsy and busy kissing her boyfriend.   
Her hosts were very sorry that their daughter isn’t there, but she always spends her holidays back in Oslo. She has a boyfriend there. Elias doesn’t attend ESL, but Norwegian School of London, so he wasn’t invited.  
There are a lot of people, from every country of the world. Each country has its own table. She would never have guessed that there were that many Norwegians in London. Everyone is sweet and happy to be here. She doesn’t fit very well. There are a lot of people in the room and it makes her uncomfortable. She speaks to some students from Spain but they’re also a bit drunk and the conversation drops after a few minutes.   
It’s not very late but everyone has had enough alcohol already so she decides to go outside. It’s freezing, and she would like to just go ‘home’ but if Mr. And Ms. Bakkoush see her coming home before midnight they will worry.  

When Noora came back from Madrid, she thought that she was fine. Under Spain’s latitude, she had been so much better. She thought she had battled all her demons and could come back to her country for good. Starting over in Oslo. New city, new school, new home, new friends. A fresh start.   
She knew as soon as she landed in Oslo that it wouldn’t be that easy.   
Everything could have been perfect. Her new roommates were more than fine. Eskild was funny, laid-back, tried to get to know her. He was honestly easy to live with. Linn was a bit shyer but she was sweet, was trying very hard not to overstep, she was always kind and thoughtful. Their apartment was fine, too, her room was big enough, cute, she loved the walls color.  
Her new school was great. She had met new people. Chris and Vilde, primarily. Chris was the sweetest person ever and she tried to make Noora laugh every day. Vilde was funny, too. She had asked Noora to be part of her Russ bus but she declined. Joining a bus felt very off. After her rejection, Vilde quickly started avoiding her a bit. Noora understood. Russ was very important and she knew she should have said yes but …  
Something was very wrong. She knew that something was off; she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what but she knew she had to do something. She tried to hold on, to work extra hard on her homework, to accept Chris or Eskild’s invitations to go out. She even tried to apply different lipstick every day.   
Nothing changed. Nothing was bad, per se. She had friends, she had good grades. Something was just… missing.   
It was dangerous and she knew it. Late at night, when she was alone, tucked in bed, her anxiety was cropping up again.    
She was self-aware enough to know that she had to do something quickly. Otherwise, she would spiral down again. There was no way in hell she would go back to where she was just months back. The hospital, vitamins, blackmail, force-feeding; she would never go back to this nightmare ever again. She had promised herself when she left the hospital. She loved herself enough not to make her body suffer like this.   
When Chris told her about her fantastic friend Eva, daughter of a Norwegian flight attendant, who currently lives in London and is attending the ‘coolest school ever’, she asked her friend for a few details. Apparently, Eva is attending a Norwegian program in a European school in London.   
It took Noora less than two weeks to take a decision. She called the school, first. It was a private and very expensive school but they promised that she could start in January and not lose a year in her schooling.   
Secondly, she texted Eva to have information about everything else. She had never gone to London. Eva was sweet and answered all her questions.   
Thirdly, she asked her parents. They said the price was not a problem.  
Noora knew it was escaping again. She was fleeing her problems once more, but she felt herself weakening more and more every day and it was the only solution.

The weather in London is quite chill tonight. She’s shivering but the cold feels good. She’s alone on the balcony, looking at London, this enormous city that will be hers for the semester. She breathes the air and tries to make sense of all of this. She can’t go back now, so she has to accommodate to this new life soon. For now, she hasn’t met a lot of people; only her host family and Chris’s friend Eva. Elias told her not to worry when she was unpacking, apparently, the expat life is very different from ‘normal’ life and nobody at school will mind that she’s a semester late. It’s usual, people come and go.   
Suddenly she hears the French window’s door opening and there’s a boy walking towards her. She quickly glances at him. She recognizes him from the Norway table. He’s, from what she gathered, in third year.  He has two Champagne glasses and is smiling discreetly at her. She feels his eyes on her.  
“They started serving Champagne and I saw you alone here, I brought your glass,” he says matter-of-factly, with a little smirk. She turns to look at him. She gives him a nod.  
“I don’t drink” she answers. She should thank him, but honestly, she’s so tired of boys trying to hit on her with awful tactics like this one. She just wants to be left alone.  
“Shock!” he says, putting the glasses on the table next to them.  He runs his fingers through his hair and she gets her attention back to the view. She feels his presence beside her but he doesn’t say anything. From the sounds she hears, he’s rolling a cigarette.   
“You don’t smoke either, do you?” he says after a few minutes of silence. He sits down on a chair. She shakes her head.   
They stay in silence for a long moment, which unsettles Noora. That boy clearly came on the balcony for her, but he doesn’t say anything. There’s something magnetic about him; Noora can’t help but glance at him. Sometimes, he’s looking at the view or at nothing but a few times, he catches her eyeing him and smirks.  
He probably comes from a rich family and was never told no. She classifies him as a fuckboy because of the girl’s reactions when he arrived.   
He’s intriguing, for sure. However, she can’t think about more with him. With anyone. Love is dangerous.   
Suddenly she wonders how just seeing him, sitting on a chair smoking a cigarette made her think of … love.  
She blinks a few times, trying to shake herself and forget about the boy who clearly doesn’t care about her (she has a thing with boys who doesn’t care about her, apparently) when he gets up and leaves the balcony. She looks in the door’s direction and bites her lips. He’s gone. It shouldn’t sadden her like it does but when she’s moody like she is, sadness is easily triggered.  
She looks at her phone to see what time it is. 10:43 pm. She definitely can’t go home now.   
She hears the crack of the door again. This time, the boy is holding two blankets and two mugs, he’s struggling but he manages to put everything on the table without an accident.  
“Here,” he tells Noora, handing her one of the blankets. “You’re freezing”   
She takes the blanket automatically. “Thanks,” she says. He smiles. “but you can go back to the party. I won’t have sex with you” she adds. As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she mentally slaps herself.   
“I brought you tea, too” the boy replies. “to warm you up” he adds. She thinks for a second that he won’t mention what she said but then he smirks. “And… to be clear, I would not be opposed to it, Noora, but I didn’t bring blankets so we could have sex on the balcony,” he says. He’s looking at her reaction. She sighs, she didn’t mean it that way but whatever.  
“How do you know my name?” she hisses and he takes a step back.  
“It may seem like there are a lot of people from Norway here, but we’re one of the smallest sections of the school. Everybody knows everybody here” logic. “There’s only one new student in our section this semester, Noora, from Oslo. You’re the only girl I don’t know here,” he explains. “And, you’re living with the Bakkoush’s, you fit Elias’s description very well” he continues, with raised eyebrows.     
She nods. “logical,” she says. She looks at the mug on the table. She is thirsty and tea could help her warm up, but it seems a bit dangerous to drink it because she doesn’t know him.  
 She looks at him and he’s smiling at her. She takes the mug and sips a bit of tea.   
“thanks for the tea” she whispers. She sits down next to him and keeps her hands on the mug.   
“no problem”  
“You can go back to the party,” she tells him.  
He chuckles. “You really don’t want to share the balcony, eh?”  
She looks at him. “I’m not in the mood” she replies.   
He nods. “it’s okay. What would you do if you weren’t here?”  
“sleep,” she says.   
“That’s not fun, though. Do you like museums?” he seems genuinely curious. She narrows her eyes, a bit suspicious but nods anyway.   
He stands up and offers his hand. “Come with me, then. We’re going to the museum. It’s a small one, but you’ll like it”    
She doesn’t move. It’s dangerous to follow someone you don’t know like that. She should say no. At the same time, Chris’s words are playing in her head. _“Noora, have fun, relax. Sometimes you have to trust someone to be decent.”_  
“I don’t even know your name” she answers.   
“William. William Magnusson”  
“I don’t follow strangers, William,” she says.   
“Fair enough,” he says, sitting back on the chair. “I’m William, I’m 18 years old. I’ve been living in London for 8 years. I live not far from there. It’s my last year at ESL…”   
“What are you doing?” she interrupts him.   
“I’m introducing myself,” he says, shrugging. “I am not a stranger anymore”  
She laughs. “God, you’re a cliché” she bites her lips.   
“And you like me for it”. He looks at her intensively. She blushes and chuckles. “I don’t like you”    
“if you say so”   
“You have to give up!” she tells him, sternly.  
“Give up? I won’t give up” he replies, with a chuckle.  
She’s amused by his bluntness. She knows too well the kind of guy he is.    
Something switches after that and she relaxes. He smiles, sipping his tea.   
They spend a long while in utter silence. The only sound they hear is the party going on inside.    
“So, what’s your story, Noora?” he asks.  
She looks at him, surprised. “my story?”  
“Everyone who ends up here has a story” William explains. “You know Sana’s story. Chris’s parents left him there, they’re in Dubaï now. Eva’s mom got here after the divorce. Her boyfriend, Jonas? He was born here, his parents were both here for a gap year and they never left. Ingrid? Her parents are in Oslo but they think she’s ‘better here’. Sara’s story is kind of the same. I can go on and on. Everyone here has a story.”  
She nods.  
“What’s yours?” she replies.  
William smirks again. “I asked you first”. As Noora doesn’t react, he continues, “My dad is from London. He left my mom, came back here and when I was 10, I moved in with him”  
“Your mom is still in Norway, then?” she asks.  
“I don’t know. Guess so.”  
“You don’t know?”  
“No. My mom is a cunt, so no, I don’t know”   
“Oi, William. Don’t need to insult your mom”   
“It’s the truth.” he shrugs. “I was 10 years old when she decided she didn’t want to take care of me anymore” he exhales.  
She presses her lips together. “Siblings?” She doesn’t even know why she wants to know more about him.   
“My brother is… a psychopath. That’s why Dad took me with him. My sister is dead” he says, shrugging.  
“Oh. Sorry” she whispers.  
William rubs his neck and gives her a tiny smile. “Told you. Everyone has a story, there” he tries to lighten the mood.  
“So what? You’re a spoiled brat, your father lets you do whatever you want?” she jokes.   
He rolls his eyes. “Well, my father gave up on me last year, so no.”

He says that without any trace of emotion on his face. She doesn’t know what to say, so she doesn’t say anything.  She keeps her eyes on him, biting her lips. She sees him breathing heavily.  

They hear people cheering inside.

“ _10!_ ” She smiles. Her eyes go from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. “ _9!_ ” She could kiss him. “ _8_!” She knows that he wouldn’t mind. “ _7!_ ” There’s nothing stopping her. “ _6!_ ” She’s almost surprised she wants to kiss him. “ _5!_ ” She plays with her lips. “ _4_!” she leans closer to him, just a bit. “ _3_!” She looks at him one more time. “ _2!_ ” she closes the distance between them. “ _1!_ ” their noses touch.   
“ _Happy New Year!_ ” she kisses him. He’s a bit surprised but kisses her back almost instantly.

When they part, William’s hands still cupping her face, he’s smiling. She chuckles. “You said something about a museum?” she whispers. He nods. He looks briefly at her once again and seals their lips again.


	2. Chapter 2

When she wakes up the next morning, she feels William’s hands around her waist. She breathes out. She looks at the shirt she’s wearing, it’s definitely not hers. She closes her eyes. What has she done?   
Yesterday, she thought that kissing William, who basically was a stranger, was ‘a crazy thing to do’. She had decided to loosen up a bit and do something a bit reckless and spontaneous like she had learned to do in the hospital. Kissing a boy is a crazy move for someone like Noora.   
This morning, she wakes up in his arms, in his shirt. She spent the night with him, at his apartment. That is definitely ‘something crazy’.   
She almost freaks out but when her breathing starts to become hectic, she feels William arms tightening around her body and she instantly relaxes. He doesn’t say anything. Her mind starts racing. She can’t fuck this up. She can’t lose herself over someone like she did. She can’t give in, she can’t sleep with him, she can’t fall for him only to have her heart broken in a few weeks.   
“It’s okay” he whispers. Suddenly, she feels his lips touching her neck and she forgets everything.

She melts into his embrace. Fuck. It’s a new year, she thinks. If she doesn’t let herself go a little bit, she’s gonna relapse. Maybe this is a very bad idea. Maybe he’s like the others and everything will go wrong in a few weeks.   
It’s too risky. There are too many parameters she doesn’t control.  
When she turns over, tugging at the covers, she’s met with William’s gaze, who’s smiling. He reaches slowly to her chin, keeping one of his finger there. “hello”, he says with a raspy voice that makes her heart melt a bit more.  
She met him less than 12 hours ago and she already knows she’s falling for him. She smiles back shyly and closes the distance between them to kiss him.    
“Fuck, you’re beautiful” he mutters. His hand is tracing patterns on her arm. Her first instinct is to blush but then she flinches. He looks at her worryingly and stops touching her. She exhales loudly.  
“What a cliché you are” she whispers. “I told you, I won’t have sex with you,” she tells him a little bit louder, looking straight into his eyes. He nods. “Thanks for yesterday” she rolls over to her side of the bed to stand up, but he puts his hand on her forearm to stop her.

When they left the party yesterday, William had taken her hand in his and lead her to a tiny museum. They had walked in almost total silence. Before entering the tiny house, William warned her; he lived here but if she didn’t want to go up in his studio, he would walk her back home.   
They visited the museum hand in hand. Everything was so easy. William’s hand in hers, William’s hand on her back, William whispering cute anecdotes about the museum in her ear, it had been so simple that she had forgotten for a little while how dangerous it could be. She had lost herself in his touches, letting him pin her to the wall, his body flushed against hers, his mouth on her neck.   
She accepted the mug of hot cocoa he offered and sat down on his counter while he was preparing it. He kissed the hot chocolate left on her mouth. She didn’t wanna leave, so she didn’t.  
Too simple.

“What does ‘thanks for yesterday’ even mean?” he says, angrily.   
“Look, I know what kind of boy you are” she replies, sitting on the bed. He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “You tried to hit on me expecting a good lay, and you thought you could convince me with a museum tour and a cup of cocoa. I can’t… do this. I shouldn’t have kissed you at midnight” she continues. William seems hurt when she looks at him.   
He gulps and nods. “Do you regret it?” he asks.   
“no. That’s not what I said.”  
“Then what’s the fucking problem?” he snaps. “I never expected sex. I said I wouldn’t be opposed to it, and it’s still true but I didn’t lure you over here so that we could have sex.”   
Noora’s leans back on the headboard. “You don’t understand. You tried again with your ‘fuck, you’re beautiful’ just now. I know you’re trying to seduce me because you want to sleep with me”    
William is confused. “I … said that because I mean it”  
“but you want to have sex with me” she shrugs.  
He waits a few seconds before replying. “Well… I mean, if you want to, then yes.”  
“I don’t want to” she mumbles.   
“Okay,” he replies. He runs his fingers through his hair and lays back on the mattress with a sigh.

She looks at him for a little while. Softly, he brushes her forearm. “Noora, why are you here?” he asks with a softness in his voice that makes her smile. She doesn’t know what to say.  
“I shouldn’t be here” she whispers a bit hesitantly. “Boys like you don’t care about anything, they just pretend.”  
William lets out a sigh. He furrows his eyebrows, “I care”  
She shakes her head, “No you don’t” she snaps, crossing her arms.   
William breathes out and shakes his head in disbelief. “I care about you. For real”. Noora stops, taken aback by his bluntness and the sincere sound of his voice. She bites her lips but doesn’t say anything. She knows he’s lying.     
William continues, “ok. I know what we’ll do because it’s way too early for this level of…complication.  Say you don’t like me and I’ll drive you home” his eyes do not leave her face.   
“This is not…” she tries to say but he interrupts her, “Noora, say you don’t like me and I promise you I’ll leave you alone” he states, trying not to raise his voice.   
She can’t say that because it’s not true. She’s not a liar.   
“I can’t…”  
“Noora, I know we’ve just met. I just want to know if you want to be here or not, because I don’t get it” he chuckles nervously.   
She glances at him quickly. Fuck. Yes, she wants to.   
She nods, turns over to face him and smiles. “Yes, I do”   
William smiles and seems relieved. He touches her hair, gently. “Good… Great. We’ll deal with the rest later. Come here” he takes her in his arms, pressing a few kisses on her shoulder.

She closes her eyes and just enjoys the moment. She remembers why she decided to come to London. She realizes that William hasn’t … he has been kind. If she doesn’t let him in, she will never know. There is a huge chance she will wake up one day heartbroken, but if she doesn’t give him a chance, she’ll probably regret it for the rest of her life. She takes a huge breath.

“You asked what my story was yesterday. This is my story…. It is probably very cliché, but this is not about you, it’s about me. I had sex when I was too young but I thought we were in love.” she chuckles. “I’m not sure I was but he definitely wasn’t. It was a dare” she explains. William laces their fingers together. He’s still looking at her intensively. She bites her lips.

“That put me in deep trouble. I had to go to a clinic to get better. I decided to take a break and go to Madrid for a year. I met a boy there. We weren’t really dating, but we were close, it was a matter of weeks, you know? One day, I went to see him at his apartment but he wasn’t there. It’s his roommate who opened the door. He invited me in, gave me alcohol. Too much alcohol, paired with something else, I think and….” she closes her eyes, feeling William’s hand on her palm. “Nothing happened. One of his guest found me and kept me safe, but still… I thought I was fine but I went back to Oslo and I started having anxiety again. I flew here before I stopped eating again”.  
William brushes his thumb over her mouth. “I’m sorry you went through that” he whispers.  
“That’s why I… am a bit hesitant to try again” she says.   
“I understand” he whispers. She rests her head on his shoulder.   
She closes her eyes again.    
“Promise me you won’t hurt me,” she says.  
“If you promise you won’t leave me” he replies.

They keep their promises, even when it’s not easy. They go slow, step by step, and Noora experiences for the first time in her life what it is to be loved and to love. At first, she’s a bit shy and asks him to keep their relationship private. When she realizes that William is really in love with her and that his aim is not to hurt her in any way, she opens Instagram and posts a picture of them, captioning it with a simple heart. That day, when William kisses her, it’s with a smile on his lips.  
Sex is a sensitive subject but day by day, with William by her side, Noora gains more and more confidence and when she realizes that despite her reserve, she trusts William, she makes William promise to never talk about that aspect of their relationship to anyone and she knows she’s ready.  
In May, she realizes that William is all tensed up because her semester abroad is almost over, and her initial plan was to go back to Oslo. He doesn’t ask her to stay. She is surprised by his unusual moodiness and when he snaps at her for nothing, mentioning Oslo, it clicks. Going back to Oslo is an option, but it’s not the only one and she never told him that.  
She promised him something five months ago. William kept his promise, and so will she.    
So one day, when they’re cuddling on the couch, she clears her throat and declares, “I’m… Whatever I will be doing next year, may it be here or in Norway, you know that it’s a decision that we will have to take together, right? I won’t leave you just like that”   
William nods. _It’s that simple._


End file.
